Disy president Annita Demetriou has called on Cyprus to assert its geostrategic value with confidence and claim the role it deserves within the European Union and the broader region, speaking at a Europe Day event held at the Glafkos Clerides Hall.
The event, organised around the theme "Strengthening Cyprus, Reinforcing Our Position in Europe," brought together Demetriou, MEPs Loukas Fourlas and Michalis Hadjipantelis, and former EU Commissioner Stella Kyriakidou.
Fourlas said Europe is not something distant or impersonal. "Europe is our daily life. It is the security, the opportunities and the future of our children," he said, adding that Cyprus has a voice, a role and a responsibility within the EU, a position he said was won through difficult decisions and a clear European orientation in which Disy has always been at the forefront.
Hadjipantelis said Cyprus's EU membership has provided security and institutional protection, and noted that in recent regional developments European solidarity had been demonstrated in practice. "Cyprus was not alone," he said.
Kyriakidou stressed that Cyprus's European identity is a conscious choice rather than a given, confirmed daily through the decisions, conduct and above all the vote of citizens. She said that in a period of multiple challenges, the country needs stability, seriousness, a clear orientation and policies based on evidence rather than slogans.
Strategic autonomy and the Cyprus problem
Closing the event, Demetriou reflected on the party's long European journey and on Glafkos Clerides's vision of a European Cyprus. "The blue flag with the golden stars was not raised easily or as a matter of course. It was won through persistence, political cost and difficult battles," she said.
She argued that Cyprus's geographic position allows it to speak to the entire region as well as to the EU itself, and that this dual role is an asset that should be used more actively. "We are at the heart of Europe, but we are also a state that can engage with the entire region. And precisely for that reason we can help Europe itself take a step further," she said.
On the EU's debate about strategic autonomy and defence, Demetriou said Cyprus can and should play its own part. "Our geopolitical position allows us to be genuinely useful to Europe," she said, adding that Disy believes European and NATO security cooperation in the region could act as a catalyst for resolving the Cyprus problem. "Because the abolition of guarantees and intervention rights will require a new security framework," she said.
All speakers also referenced the upcoming parliamentary elections, with the party's press release concluding that Disy must remain the strong voice of reason, seriousness, consensus and realistic proposals, standing against toxicity, division and populism.
Source: CNA
